In eighteenth
century England, money was not decimalized as it is today. To barter and
trade effectively, one had to possess a solid knowledge of the relative
values of coins as well as local currency. Shown below is a chart of the
denominations and relative worth of coins in eighteenth century England,
which should prove useful in navigating various other components of this
site. Also available below is the eighteenth century calculator, which
will convert today's American dollars into 1750 British pounds and vice
versa.

The pound sterling
(£) was the basic currency unit of England during the eighteenth
century. In 1717, Sir Isaac Newton, Master of the Royal Mint (see picture
on the right) , switched to the gold standard. Historically, since 1158,
silver had been the standard.41
The 1700's presented England with unique challenges that caused major
changes in the monetary system. This page specifically outlines the severe
coin shortage and Britain's challenge in redefining their monetary system
in the presence of increasing international trade.

In the eighteenth
century, the supply of money was far from sufficient for the growing English
economy. The shortage of coins available for daily activities, such as
paying wages and purchasing common goods resulted in discordance and inconvenience.
The shortage of coins in circulation was due mainly to the woes of the
Royal Mint. The specialists (Assayers, Melters, Refiners, Engravers and
Medallists) of the Royal Mint were allowed to carry out contract work
in addition to his public duty. The individual moneyer was guaranteed
a small fixed annual payment from the government, but the bulk of his
income came primarily from commission on private contracts. Thus, private
accounts often took precedence over orders from the Treasury. Also contributing
to the shortage of coins was the shrinking number of moneyers. The astronomical
cost of apprenticeship restricted membership to the company, contributing
to the coin shortage problem. 45

The
High Cost of Apprenticeship Contributes to a Decrease of Moneyers at the
Royal Mint46

Year

Number
of Moneyers

1650

59

1705

16

1774

8

Differing
International Gold Standards Contributes to Efflux of British Silver47

Country

Pounds
of Silver

Pounds
of Gold

England

15.5

1

Spain

16

1

India

12

1

Japan

9

1

International
Trade Contributes to Coin Crisis

If the woes of the
Royal Mint were insufficient to cause a devastating shortage of silver
coin in Britain, the growing international trade certainly assured this
outcome. In England, the standard of money had always been based on silver.
However, with the introduction and subsequent widespread use of the Spanish
guinea in the late seventeenth century, England was forced to assign a
value to the gold coin. The chart to the left shows the worth of silver
relative to gold in the early years of the eighteenth century. The Spanish
took advantage of the conversion to import silver bullion and exchange
it for gold. Under English law, precious metals could be exported in the
form of bullion or foreign coin, but not in coins of the realm. However,
the opportunity remained irresistible, and many “money jobbers”
and “exchange dealers” melted the heaviest silver coins available
to export to India and Japan. In 1712, Sir Isaac Newton declared, “gold
in England is overvalued in proportion to silver … and this excess
value tends to increase the gold coins and diminish the silver coins of
this kingdom.” However, Newton’s proposed remedies were ignored
until 1717, when the guinea was revalued from 21s 6d to 21s. Still the
measure did little to stifle the drain of English silver to foreign countries.
It was a practice that was neither curtailed nor compensated for in the
eighteenth century.48

Minting of
Tokens by Industrialists Relieves Money Shortage

By
the 1720’s, private coining of copper in Ireland was widespread.
In the following decades the practice spread and grew in England. By 1792,
the country was flooded with these tokens.49During the mid-1700’s, a shortage of official coins prompted
local provinces to issue their own half-pennies and farthings. The result
was a multitude of coins in circulation, with varying designs, face values
and intrinsic values. These tokens served multiple uses beyond relieving
the small change shortage:
• Propagandists used them to promote various political causes.
• Issuers used them for advertising, hence the occasional lack of
value on the face coin.
• Many people became interested in collecting coins, in perhaps
the first documented instance of this phenomenon.50
The designs were multiple and varied as in the examples on the left, from
Norfolk and the Political Series. The fact that many of these tokens were
never turned in for redemption indicates that they served a real purpose
in relieving the coin shortage.51